The City University of New York Athletic Conference annually recognizes its best and brightest student-athletes, who not only excel in athletics, but succeed in the classroom as well. Over the next few weeks, CUNYAC will recognize those who truly embody what it means to be a student-athlete. The award is presented by Hospital for Special Surgery, the official hospital of the CUNY Athletic Conference.
Valeria Rojas, a member of the Lehman College women's soccer and women's basketball teams, owns a 3.25 grade-point average with a major in Business Administration.
On the pitch, Rojas is a three-year letter winner, appearing in 44 games with 36 starts, scoring eight goals. This season, the Bronx native lent most of her time to the Lightning's back line, yet still contributed goals against Sarah Lawrence and Medgar Evers, helping Lehman secure a spot in the CUNYAC Championship Semifinals.
It was an honor coaching Val the past few years. She really has grown as a player and person and seeing the ambition she has will make her extremely successful off the field," women's soccer head coach Casey Mellili said. "She always put academics first yet still made it to every practice and game which made her a great role model."
Rojas showed off her athleticism and joined the Lightning women's basketball team this year, starting every game. She finished second on the team in rebounds (215) and rebounds per game (8.6), both top-10 marks in the CUNYAC.
"Valeria Rojas is a true definition of a student-athlete," women's basketball head coach Eric Harrison said. "Her commitment and dedication to both her academics as well as athletics was truly a pleasure to see".
"It is an honor to be nominated for this award," Rojas said. "I ended my senior year at Lehman College by playing soccer and basketball. Playing for the soccer team for three years was a great experience. During my last semester, I ended up joining the basketball team, a completely new sport for me, and I don't regret it at all. I want to thank my coaches and teammates from both teams who helped make this experience as enjoyable, easy and fun as it could be! Being part of these teams helped me improve in many ways and I am grateful for that. My college experience would have not been the same without this amazing athletics side of it."
2019-20 CUNYAC/HSS Scholar-Athlete of the Year Honorable Mentions
HSS is ranked #1 in the nation for orthopedics by U.S. News & World Report for the 10th straight year. No wonder the City University of New York Athletic Conference trust HSS as their official hospital. For more information, please visit www.HSS.edu. During this time of social distancing, HSS has developed resources to adjust to working from home, located on the new HSS Feel Better From Home website.